Review: Handa-kun E.01

I wasn't sure whether to watch this anime or not, but I can say now that I'm glad I chose to watch it in the end. I've only just watched the first episode, and I can tell you now that the show is pure genius, kudos to the writers and the production team for coming up with such a distinctive plot. The subtle artwork coupled with the line-up of quirky and authentic characters is just perfect for this kind of anime. Although Handa-kun blatantly falls under the slice of life genre, it strays far from your run-of-the-mill slice of life anime. Like the anime series Gintama, Handa-kun breaks the fourth wall. What I loved about this episode was that it didn't play out as I expected. I assumed the entire episode would revolve around the Handa-kun Force; a group of four boys from Handa-kun's school, who don't actually appear in the 'real' Handa-kun episode. It's slightly difficult to explain, so check it out for yourselves then you'll know what I'm talking about. The four boys admire Handa-kun to say the least, and their attempts to produce their own Handa-kun anime after failing to watch the premiere episode of the Handa-kun anime produced by Diomedéa (a fact mentioned in this episode).

Long story short they do manage, albeit rather amateurishly, to produce their own (weird and disturbing) Handa-kun anime, and also end up receiving a copy of the first original episode of Handa-kun by Diomedéa. They receive the DVD of the pilot episode as an apology from Diomedéa for the mix up regarding the anime premiere, and because of their supposed 'close' relationship to Handa-kun. They then put the DVD on, and the 'real' episode starts. I should also mention that, before the Handa Force realise that all of them have missed the first episode of the Handa-kun series, they fantasise about what the Handa-kun anime should be like.

In the 'actual' episode the utterly oblivious Handa-kun receives a letter from a girl. We quickly learn that Handa-kun is someone who misinterprets everything; he's pretty pessimistic and assumes the worst, for instance in this episode instead of realising that when finding a letter in your locker, it usually means that someone is confessing their love for you, he views it as a challenge.  To make matters worse he gets caught throwing the love letter in the bin by the girl who wrote the letter, and her um, rather big headed friend. He then proceeds to be badmouthed by the big headed girl and then is asked by the girl in love with him, to meet him behind the school. Again, Handa-kun misconstrues the girls’ words and assumes she is challenging him. The first bad scenario he conjures up is one where he is being verbally assaulted by a horde of girls, while the second scenario features him being beaten up by the boyfriend of the girl and a gang of thugs for 'making eyes at the gang boss’s lady.'

The episode ends with Handa-kun approaching the girl behind the school; it also shows Handa-kun's reaction to the amateurish anime series produced by the Handa Force.

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Handa-kun E.01

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